MAN THROUGH THE AGES

by John Bowle ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

The Concise of World History which John Bowle edited in 1958 bore witness to the scope of his scholarship, the liveliness of his editorial judgment and presentation. This new book his own- poses a difficult task:- a two volume history of the world through the achievements of mankind. This first volume ends with the approaching industrial Revolution, and recounts successive violent upheavals which in each case presaged a vast jump in man's development. The first big change came when Homo Sapiens learned to make fire and improve the technique of his tools. Records of his era, the Palethic, are evident in survivals of his cult of sex, fertility, death and art. The society of man came into existence. The next revolutionary jump came with the Bronze Age, which he traces through Babylonia, Egypt, the Minoan and Mycenian cultures, eventually even in India Persia, China. By 500 BC four great cultures had been established. The northern countries provided their evidence, Denmark in particular was interesting. Greece's march of conquest, with the defeat of Darius and Xerxes -- and in India a great world religion was founded, in China a way of life. Rome's rise and fall; Israel and the rise of Christianity; the expansion of Islam; the kernels of the European nations taking shape- all this led up to the later Middle Ages, in which lay the roots of the civilizations beforehand. The discovery of America marked another landmark; European exploration opened new horizons also in Africa, in Asia. And the Renaissance ushered in the new age of sovereign states, while the 18th century saw shifting alliances in power politics, sovereign states and mercantile oligarchies posed against a background of culture and social thought.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Little Brown

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1962

Categories: NONFICTION